TOWN BOW OUT OF NATIONAL CUP IN PORTLAOISE Our U-12A travelled to Portlaoise on Saturday to take on Portlaoise FC in the 3rd Round of the National Cup . This was the third time that Arklow made the trip down the N7 after defeating Monasterevin and Prosperous in the previous games to progress. The Laois men had Arklow on the defence from the first kick and when the their front man beat two Town players with a bit of magic, he found himself in the Towns penalty area and in clear sight of goal when he was tackled from behind. A clear penalty and the Referee pointed to the spot with 47 seconds on the clock. Despite Arklows keeper Dylan Byrne guessing right, the pace of the shot took the ball past him into the bottom corner. 1-0 to the home team. Things were to go from bad to worse and Town conceded three more to find themselves 4-0 inside 15 minutes. With a lot of encouragement from the sidelines, from supporters who travelled down, Arklow finally started to play and after some great passing in and around their opponents 18 yard box, the ball made its way to Kyle Nolan who hammered a shot right into the top corner to give hope to his team-mates. The hope it had given however was short lived when a goalkeeping mistake aided the front man of Portlaoise to a tap in to increase their lead to four. Yet again Kyle Nolan stepped up to score another tremendous goal on the half time whistle. Half time 5-2. After a half time team talk the coaches encouraged the lads to get their heads up and have a go. All was not lost and there was still a chance of winning this one. All went well for the first 15 minutes of the second half. Knowing that the next goal would be vital, Arklow pressured the Portlaoise lads and kept them in their own half but they couldnt break them down. The home side then caught Town on the break and yet another penalty was conceded. Again the Portlaoise front man dispatched with confidence for his hat trick. 6-2. In fairness to Arklow the score did not reflect the game. Conceding four goals in 15 minutes would have sank a lot of teams. This Arklow team got their heads up and battled on and were unlucky not to close the gap, going close several times. With seconds remaining on the clock, the home team made it 7-2 with another break. Final Score: Portlaoise FC 7-2 Arklow Town FC This was a bad day in the office for Town. Every team has them but this was Arklows first defeat of the season and we all know the lads can perform much better. They will bounce back and all credit to them for accepting defeat with dignity and wishing Portlaoise all the best in the next round. Arklow Goals: Kyle Nolan (2) Assists: Owen Moore and Sean ONeill. Report with thanks to Michael Mahon. Photographs courtesy of Rene Algera.
Posted on: Tue, 11 Nov 2014 15:30:01 +0000
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